Dear Clients, Friends and Business Partners,
I am writing you today to deliver some sad and unfortunate news. After 15 years in business, my wife Gretchen and I have made a decision to close our firm, Renaissance Creative.
As most of you are aware, prior to 2007, our business was primarily residential and resort real-estate focused with 27 employees doing about $5 million / yr. annually. Indeed, during this time period, we were named one of the city’s “50 Fastest Growing Companies” five times by the Jacksonville Business Journal in 2002; 2004; 2005; 2006; 2007, as well as one of Jacksonville’s “Best Places to Work” in 2007.
The sudden collapse of the real estate market was a significant shock to our system that required painful downsizing coupled with a complete, capital-intensive diversification of our client base. And while we had made substantial progress and continued to grow on these fronts, unfortunately, after giving it our most sincere best efforts, the fixed overhead associated with our now-8 member team, combined with the continuing challenges of the larger economy, left us with little alternative.
We have been blessed to have had an extremely talented group of creative professionals here for all of these past 15 years and you should be aware that our still highly capable core team, led by partner, Ed Bondi, will be continuing to service accounts, operating as a consortium. Call it Renaissance 2.0. It is our expectation that they will be able to continue successfully in a new and more efficient operating structure, and I would encourage you to please continue to support them with your business, and referring them to your friends and associates. During the months to come, you will continue to be able to contact them (and me) via their current RC emails, as well as via their personal contact numbers.
Together, with the help of all of you- our valued clients, friends and business partners, we have produced an extraordinary volume of memorable work that we will forever be proud of. It is disheartening to see businesses like ours everywhere struggle in this difficult, stubborn economy, but I am certain that “American Exceptionalism” will continue to prevail, and that things will eventually improve for all of us.
Just as our team is doing, Gretchen and I move forward not only with sadness, but also with an inherent optimism, drive and excitement that cannot be extinguished to meet all challenges in front of us, and seek new opportunities as well. We have long put 100% of our faith in Jesus Christ, operated by His will and on His timeline. Choosing to do so has never failed us; just the opposite. We have always been, are and will continue to be richly blessed! We are grateful for these blessings, to which all of you have for so long, contributed. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Sincerely,
Tim Hamby
President / Co-Creative Director
Roxie Lute, PR Specialist
Who says internships don’t pay?! Raquel “Roxie” Lute is the perfect example of an intern who joins a company on a part-time basis, then proceeds to make themselves so valuable, the firm can’t afford to lose them upon graduation! After interning for 3 months prior to her graduation from the University of North Florida, Roxie accepted a full-time position as Public Relations Specialist at Renaissance Creative. Nice work, Roxie! Just the way your professors drew it up.
Roxie earned her Bachelor of Science in Communications at UNF, with concentration in Public Relations. A social-savvy digital native, Roxie brings youth, energy and an ever-flowing number of new ideas to the Renaissance team, not to mention a “roaming gnome” that seems to have to have begun randomly appearing in different areas of our offices the day Roxie moved in (No one knows why… No one asks why… We just inherently know to stay calm and not touch it, or look at it directly in the eyes.)
At UNF, Roxie was a strong contributor to the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), serving as Vice President. She also served as Account Executive for the University of North Florida’s student-run public relations firm, giving her the real-world skills and leadership qualities needed for her professional career. Roxie also brings practical experience from the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network and the Children’s Home Society of Florida. She is continuing to pursue her Masters in Business Administration at the University of North Florida, while helping with accounts like III Forks, Cantina Laredo and Nemours BrightStart! to name a few, here at Renaissance.
Last night I moderated a panel discussion at the University of North Florida called Strictly Social. The purpose of the event was to bring together professionals in Northeast Florida who use social media every day in their jobs, but who each do very different jobs.
By doing so, I hoped to bring together people with different enough backgrounds, and diverse enough expertise, to facilitate a quality conversation about a range of topics. Now that the event is over, I believe that I was successful.
I’d like to thank both UNF’s PRSSA chapter, and UNF, for both inviting me to speak, and for hosting the event. Without them, it would not have been nearly as successful!
On February 23, I will be moderating a panel discussion at the University of North Florida about the current state of social media and online communities, and where it’s headed next.
I’m very excited about this event, and have some hope that it could become a recurring event. I’ve been thinking about putting together an event like this for a little while. So when I was approached by two representatives from UNF’s chapter of PRSSA, I jumped at the chance.
The plan, initially, was that I would speak to the chapter members about social media. However, once I got to thinking about it, I saw how this event could potentially be something much bigger.
There’s a disturbing trend currently taking hold in social media marketing and community management. Businesses are hiring firms to develop their social profiles, but aren’t asking anything else. They aren’t asking what the progress is, aren’t asking for data points, referral information or engagement stats.
Businesses aren’t asking for a return on their investment. They’re just ticking off the “social media” box on their media plans and moving forward. While I’m sure plenty of agencies are getting away with this, boosting their revenue because they aren’t being asked to provide anything resembling proof, I’m confident that this will do more harm than good to the industry, and indeed social media as a whole. It makes me glad that that, unlike many others, Renaissance Creative does not take that path.
